Addiction
by Lauand
Summary: Goku is curious. Hakkai is subtle. Gojyo/Hakkai implications.


**Title:** Addiction

**Author:** Lauand

**Rating:** PG

**Beta:** Madhumalati

**Summary:** Goku is curious. Hakkai is subtle.

**A/N:** Written for the Saiyukitime LJ community. Thank you very much to Madhumalati for the beta-reading.

--

It was something Sanzo said. With Goku, it often was. Sanzo and Gojyo had been bitching about cigarettes and lighters and the word came up. Of the four of them, Goku was the least afraid to look like an idiot, so when he didn't know something, he just asked.

"Hakaaaai, what does 'addiction' mean?"

Gojyo snorted.

"It's when you're addicted to something, dumbass."

Before Goku could make a snide remark about the great definition Gojyo had just given him and they started bickering and roughing up in the limited backseat space, Hakkai replied.

"An addiction is a specific type of craving where you need to obtain the object you are addicted to on a regular basis. Otherwise, you become unable to think of another thing or to focus in whatever you try to do. There are two main kinds of addiction, the psychological and the physical. On the former, it's the mind that gets used to having that concrete object of addiction, and on the latter it's the body that gets affected. Addictions are also called dependencies because one can't live or act normally without them anymore."

Goku reflected on it while, for once, Gojyo kept quiet.

"Is it… is it like when I'm hungry and I can't think of anything but food?"

Hakkai glanced at him through the rear mirror and smiled.

"Something like that. But eating is not considered an addiction, since it's a natural, biological necessity. We call it addiction only when it's not something everybody needs to keep on living. Only you to stay sane."

The soft humming of Hakuryuu's engine and his wheels on the ground were the only sounds in the jeep for a while. That and the gears turning in Goku's head.

"Then… is it more like Sanzo?"

No one noticed, since nobody was looking at him, but Sanzo's eyes suddenly opened and his face changed at hearing Goku's reasoning.

Hakkai made a non-committal sound. Seconds later, the harisen made its appearance as Sanzo started beating Goku and finally, finally, Gojyo understood what the monkey was saying and burst out laughing like a maniac.

"Sometimes," Hakkai continued after Sanzo's arm had gotten tired and the monk had stopped his harassing, "it's just the opposite. Instead of succumbing to temptation and getting another fix, the addicted denies his dependence and tries to push that obsession out of his mind by trying to find a substitutive or by doing everything he can, everything that occurs to him to ignore the craving and prove himself that he's still in control, that he can give up whenever he wants, that it's not a necessity, but a luxury. That's called 'denial' and most smokers think like that."

At the mention of smokers, Goku's eyes left Hakkai's reflection on the rear mirror and got directed towards Gojyo.

"What?" The redhead asked annoyed.

Goku's puzzled expression slowly became one of enlightenment; he glanced again at Hakkai and, before he knew, he was laughing so hard that tears started leaking down his face and he had to clutch his belly.

Now Gojyo was openly pissed, since it was evident that the monkey was laughing at him.

"_What!_" He repeated, this time louder.

Fighting to get the laughter under control, Goku sighed and swallowed. After chuckling some more, he triumphally announced:

"Nothing! It's only that, all those girls…" grinning at Gojyo's bewildered expression, he explained: "I've just figured out to whom you're really addicted to!"

The first fraction of the next second, Gojyo's eyes just widened. The next fraction, he glanced alarmed at Hakkai. The third fraction, he lunged at the monkey and tried to throttle him.

Sanzo growled when the kicks made the passenger seat rattle, but he didn't start shooting. Yet.

Hakkai fixed his gaze again on the road and smiled. Wickedly but honestly, he smiled.

--


End file.
